Faith In Geraldine Brooks Year Of Wonders

The role of faith in people’s personal journey can be seen as multifaceted. Ultimately, it depends on what one chooses to put faith into. If we are being honest, growing up, faith was not a big part of my home life. My family is Catholic, and I was baptized Catholic- but outside of that, we never practiced our faith. As I read Year of Wonders authored by Geraldine Brooks, I have discovered, that the text positions readers to believe that faith has an important role in all individuals and should be relied on through times of adversities. For a girl such as myself, who attends a Catholic school, contemplating the nature of faith within the novel is confronting and challenging. However, as I read, this was something I couldn't help but question.

When the bubonic Plague strikes the town, many characters exhibit the resort to their faith as a means of surviving. By attending a Catholic school, this allows myself to practice my faith; however, when faced with adversities in life, in no means would I think to turn to God to help me through it. For the past sixteen years, this way of self-living has been reasonable, so when I read “God has the power to keep you safe in peril,” (Pg. 62), said by Mr Mompellion, my thoughts and feelings were challenged. I form an opinion and question the character’s behaviour. To put all your faith, into the unknowable God, just to wait for him, is a motive that I am not crazy about. When face with a problem, there is no spiritual dimension in my solution, all solving is practical. This may seem very harsh, and maybe it is my teenage mind thinking, but the dealing of the Plague through religious means promoted by the characters, just does not work for

104). I mean, imagine if we treated the Ebola virus with a spiritual solution, just as Mr Mompellion did with the Plague. It would be like waiting for a miracle to happen. As a reader, I was positioned to be irritated with Mr Mompellion through the language choices that are used to show that he only relied on God, for example, “image of God”. I strongly believe that the total dependence on faith during times of difficulties is unrealistic, as there are many more reasonable methods, such as herbal remedies. Now, maybe it is my prejudiced viewpoint, however, Brooks portrays that total faith is possibly dangerous and we are positioned to see the journey of Mompellion’s faith and how it develops into a negative outcome. Brooks recognises it is important to have faith, however she suggest that the world should look at other solutions during times of